Another row is brewing inside the Labour Party and the trade unions over Barbara Castle's proposals to divide health care into a private and a public sector. The National and Local Government Officers Meanwhile, the TUC is at one with the Labour Government in supporting the continuation of private "week of action':
solidarity with the Spanish working class on 14 February.
movement firmly rooted in the British workers' movement. Government becoming a party to these manoeuvres. Support 14 February Conference workers' movement. At the end of last year a group of 19 members of the TUC General Council and nine Labour MPs announced plans to hold a national delegate conference in solidarity with the Spanish working class in London on 14 February. We have received the following statement from the Action Group Against Repression in Spain, a group of militants from the Spanish emigré community who were the principal organisers of last November's national solidarity demonstration, supporting the conference and appealing for a national The Action Group Against Repression in Spain welcomes the decision of a group of members of the TUC General Council and Labour MPs to organise a conference in Over the past several months we have been working to develop solidarity with the Spanish struggle within the British labour movement, and have stressed in particular me need tor a manona sondanty ood mar can sumuate. sucnemen and cooralate solidarity acton. It is from this viewpoint tnat we greet te 14 rebruary conterence as potentially a step of great importance towards the building of a mass solidarity Such solidarity is urgently required at the present moment. The Spanish regime is today trying to build itself an image of seeking 'democratic' reforms. But nothing could be further from the truth. For what is the reality in Spain today. The vast majority of imprisoned political opponents of the Franco regime remain behind bars; all forms of independent working class organisation remain illegal; and in recent weeks the regime's police have continued to arrest many left-wing and revolutionary But this totally phony nature of the regime's "democratic" rhetoric has not prevented the ruling classes of Western Europe from falling over themselves to back up uis regime or Franco s neurs. Every working class miltant and supporter of the Spanish working class in this country was disgusted by the spectacle of the Labour Ine presence or a Labour Government representative at the funeral of Franco (where he rubbed shoulders with the Chilean butcher Pinochet) and the coronation of Franco's appointed heir Juan Carlos is a blotch on the British workers' movement that we must all work to erase.
We hope that the forthcoming conference will give birth to the sort of movement that can prevent a repeat of such treacherous actions against the fight of the Spanish working class, and mobilise the might of the British workers movement to support the struggles of our Spanish brothers and sisters. It is in this light that we have decidcd to call oll the meeting we nao proposca for tu january to set up a nauonal sor idarity body, and urge all working class militants and supporters of the Spanish struggie to give their full support to the 14 February conference and work to build such a national body and a mass solidarity movement through that conference.
As a means of assisting in the building of this conference we would propose that the week during which the conference will take place - the 8 to 15 February - be declared a National Week of Action in Solidarity with the Spanish Working Class. We would urge all those individuals and organisations supporting the conference also: to support this call for such a week of action. We would particularly urge local solidarity committees, labour movement bodies, etc. to mount a campaign of local activities (pickets, rallies, meetings, film shows, displays, etc.) during this week as a concrete means of displaying our solidarity with our Spanish brothers and sisters, and as a way of effectively building the 14 February conference throughout the entire health schemes.
the TUC-sponsored private health sanctuary which deals mainly with from 500,000 individual union members. A report by the TUC fare Committee recommends continuing our support for Manor House'. It justifies this on the grounds that the Government has not proposed to scrap private medicine altogether'.
Instead of taking up a fight against the creation of a two-tier health system - the logical and iniquitous outcome of Castle's proposals the TUC contents dards of care' in the private secSecond-rate inevitably suffer a drain of resources, as the Government implements its cuts and staff leave to work in the better-paid private sector. For the great majority of the working class, the NHS will only offer a second-rate service - ill-equipped, Among these is Manor House, industrial accident cases and is financed by 10p a week contributions Social Insurance and Industrial Welitself by calling for 'adequate stantor'. This is no more than a cop-out.
In such a situation the NHS will Lane, London N.W.11.
from the sordid business of making The stand of NALGO and NUPE deserves the support of all militants.
The TUC are scabbing on the strugAssociation and the National Union of Public Employees have both emphatically come out against any private medicine, and want all private practice nationalised and incorporated into the NHS the carve-up of the health service.
In every area, in every locality, the fight must begin now to turn that demonstration into a mighty show of working class strength. It must spell out the message that the Out now, 1st edition of National Health bulletin of the National Co-ordinating Committee Against Cuts in the NHS. Copies can be obtained from P. Stern (Secretary), 55 Bridge {1 (plus postage), 50 for £2 (plus postage). Cheques and POs made out to: "National Coordinating Committee NHS.
working class will not allow either the Labour Government or the TUC to sacrifice workers health to the interests of capitalism.
Janet Maguire Single copies - 12p (including postage); bulk orders - 25 for
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National Health ... a health service under the control of working people.' 'a health service needs of working people.